I had a Steak-and-Shake burger for dinner.
I know this is not riveting information nor do you care, however the reason I share is important.
You see, sunshine, at any given moment you are a summary of many descriptions.
You may wear the names of mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, boss, assistant, accountant, nurse, teacher, tennis player, runner, Bible study teacher, stay-at-home-mom, gardener, _____________. (Fill in the blank–the possibilities are endless.)
And often in these different roles, we act accordingly.
For example, you likely act one way with your family and another at work and yet another with your colleagues at an after-hours-work-party and yet even another at your women’s Bible study. This is normal and acceptable–you are not Sybil, sunshine.
And the same is true for ourselves as eaters.
On any given day we can be the health expert appearing on Dr. Oz, then the next minute we can be the college student inhaling a pizza at 3:00a.m., then we can be the 5-year-old-wailing and screaming, “I want it!” or the pregnant lady who’s eating for two (even if we’re not pregnant.)
Each of us has nutritional personalities, and they manifest differently in our eating habits (and the results, too).
I first learned about my nutritional personality from work I did through the Psychology of Eating. I never thought much about my relationship with food or which version of Frannie was sitting down to eat at mealtime.
But now I think of her at every meal, and all too often it’s after I’m done eating. #regret
At different times my varied personalities surface, and I eat accordingly.
Sometimes I’m a rebellious teen. “YOLO! Where’s the cake?”
Sometimes I am an Olympic athlete in training. “Clean and lean, baby!”
Sometimes I am the entitled silver-spooner. “I’ve been working hard…I deserve it.”
Sometimes I am holier-than-thou. “How could anyone ever eat THAT?!”
And sometimes I am the victim. “I am home alone again on a Saturday night.”
So when I made the intentional decision to drive through Steak-and-Shake, which by the way is not Ruth Chris quality meat, I was indulging in a few personalities.
I felt I deserved that burger because I’ve been working hard at my goal of -20 by January 1, 2019, and I justified the need to have red meat since I just finished my period (may be TMI, sorry, sunshine,) and of course, the victim is my favorite personality to dine with. It was Friday night. I was solo in the car. Say no more.
Now I am not knocking the Steak-and-Shake franchise, nor am I condemning anyone who eats there or any fast food chain for that matter, but I do want to help bring awareness to your unique nutritional personalities so you can be more informed and make healthier choices more often.
So I ask you, sunshine:
Identify the different personalities showing up at your dinner table.
Which is the primary diner that you invite to join you most often?
Is it time to invite someone new or your long-lost world-class-athlete-in-training-self so you can make that weight loss goal happen this year? |
